I was amused by the article by Jan de Villiers, the DA national spokesperson, titled “Johnson can’t make Steenhuisen his new baboon” (December 14). De Villiers suggested that RW Johnson is biased against John Steenhuisen, and yet he also shows a bias, but in Steenhuisen’s favour. This is evident in his contention that the DA, according to a poll, has gained a full 10% since the 2024 elections to come in at 32% of the vote, just 5% shy of the ANC’s 37%.
What De Villiers ignores is that prior to 2024 the MK Party did not exist. After the 2024 elections, the MKP is now the official opposition. There is an argument to be made that the MKP is actually the ANC B-party. So a wise strategist would look at Steenhuisen’s performance in comparison with the combined percentages of the ANC and the MKP.
De Villiers seems to suggest that the DA, under the leadership of Steenhuisen, is making a strong showing, but it has to be borne in mind that this is happening at a time when the ANC alliance is unravelling. If there is proper leadership in the DA, which has a fantastic record on service delivery at the local government level, it should not still be lagging behind in second place.
Should there be a surprise ANC-MKP alliance in the next general election, how would the DA fare? That is the question. If one looks at the poll set out by De Villiers, the DA would not do well in those circumstances.
— Kenny Phillips, Cape Town
Dubious claims of a Christian state
In “How to find the miracle we need” (December 14), Thabile Mange claims that “secularism is not working for us” and that “during the apartheid era, South Africa was a Christian state… there was order then”.
These claims are dubious.
Many Christians would, and did, disagree that apartheid was Christian. At best, it rested on a narrow Afrikaner Calvinist theology. And “order”? Perhaps in white areas — enforced by repression elsewhere.
Has secularism failed? No. What has failed is the ANC government, as Junior Polisario notes on the same letters page, and Barney Mthombothi argues elsewhere. Corruption and incompetence are not products of secularism; they are political failures.
If South Africa were to become a “Christian state”, which Christianity would it be? Roman Catholic? Evangelical? Or something homegrown, like ZCC or Shembe? The so-called Christian majority crams together a wide variety of often incompatible versions. Many believe the others are bound for Hell.
In reality, everyone in South Africa is in a religious minority. The only fair response is a state that does not privilege any faith: secularism. This does not oppose religion; it protects freedom of belief. And non-belief.
History repeatedly shows that when religion dictates state policy, conflict increases and progress stalls. A secular constitution remains the best safeguard for a diverse and deeply divided society like ours.
— Rick Raubenheimer, president, South African Secular Society
Ayob’s passing a tremendous loss to SA
I was deeply saddened to hear of the passing away of iconic lawyer Ismail Ayob, legal advisor to the Mandela family. Ayob was an outstanding and dedicated patriot who served our country with unswerving commitment. He stands out as a legal giant in our struggle to build a nation out of scattered hopes and lofty aspirations.
South Africa is now bereft of one of its founding heroes, and his passing is a tremendous loss to the national community.
His commitment to the rule of law and justice for all was total. He left us something to emulate, to make this country better. May his profound soul rest in perfect peace.
— Farouk Araie, Benoni
Tribalism is a ticking time bomb
Mathatha Tsedu’s “Tinpot ethnicists are challenging the unity of our nation” (December 14) is spot on. This has been bothering me for some time now and never goes away: Zulu nation, Thembu nation, Sotho nation, Pedi nation, Tsonga nation, Tswana nation. As if that were not enough, each so-called nation has numerous subdivisions which are in turn split into different clans. This is the biblical Tower of Babel; things literally fall apart.
The most powerful weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. People are certainly feeling nostalgic about divide and rule. To make it worse, these “nations” are for all intents and purposes tribes.
And historically speaking, tribes had chiefs but no king. To move closer to the cookie jar, they decided to call themselves nations. That one “king” gets the lion’s share of monetary allocation by the government is a mystery. We need academics who are impartial and fearless to decode all the different tribes and their evolution. Most academics are hamstrung by the same old notions; they do not want to ruffle feathers lest they lose lucrative positions on boards or as consultants.
Tribalism is dangerous and a ticking time bomb in this country. Within almost all the tribes there is a derogatory term reserved for each of the other tribes. How can we call ourselves a South African nation when there is no centre to hold on to? With ethnicity and tribalism simmering like a just-about-to-erupt volcano, God help us all!
— Buang Lairi, Zastron
Save Damelin from the minister of demolitions
The higher education minister must be prevented from closing Damelin College.
First, law is not the same as wisdom. Regulation is a tool, not a virtue. A state that knows only how to punish, close and deregister — but not how to repair, rehabilitate and improve — is not governing; it is administering decay. Developmental states do not confuse compliance with progress. They use law to strengthen capacity, not to erase it.
Second, Damelin is not a shop that failed inspection. It is an educational institution built since 1943, with infrastructure, staff, alumni, institutional memory, and social trust accumulated over generations. That is not something you casually throw away in a country starving for education. Only shallow minds think institutions appear and can be replaced overnight.
Third, heritage is not nostalgia; it is capacity. When an institution has survived decades, it carries embedded systems, practices and experience that cannot be replicated by opening a new college tomorrow. Destroying such capacity in a developing country is not “enforcing the law”; it is burning capital you do not have.
Fourth, the “just follow the law” argument collapses under one question: why is closure the first response instead of the last?
The law allows for conditional licensing, supervision, improvement plans and monitored rehabilitation. Jumping straight to deregistration reveals not firmness but administrative laziness and developmental ignorance.
Fifth, students pay the price — not the minister. Deregistration displaces students, disrupts lives, wastes years of effort, and shrinks access in a system already bursting at the seams. Shutting down institutions while students queue, sleep outside campuses and get turned away is not moral governance; it is bureaucratic cruelty.
Sixth, development is about fixing what is broken, not demolishing what is imperfect.
Every serious system distinguishes between irredeemable failure and correctable weakness. Damelin falls into the second category.
South Africa cannot afford leaders who respond to imperfection with demolition.
— Chris Kanyane, by e-mail
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